Denny Hamlin started from the pole, led three times for 41 laps and was running among the top-five with less than 25 laps remaining in Sunday’s FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks NASCAR race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway when something broke on the #11 FedEx Freight/Autism Speaks Toyota, sending Hamlin hard into the outside wall in Turn 1 and delivering the FedEx Racing team a disappointing 34th-place finish. Tony Stewart was victorious in the race, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski.

Hamlin was in contention for his first Cup Series win at the ‘Monster Mile’ throughout the 400-lap event on the one-mile concrete oval. Battling a tight condition for the first half of the race, the #11 machine came to life just past the halfway mark, and was the fastest car on the track. Hamlin was leading with less than 100 laps remaining and stayed out front until the second-to-last caution on Lap 318.

He pitted for right-side tires and fuel, setting into fifth after the restart before the impact with the wall on Lap 378. “It was a frustrating end to the day, that’s for sure,” said Hamlin. “We can’t afford many bad days or bad finishes, and today was tough because of how well we ran throughout the race. We’ll just have to work harder and capitalize on some of the good tracks we have coming up.”

The finish dropped Hamlin two spots to 26th in the NASCAR standings following Dover, 73 points behind 20th position after 13 of 26 regular season races. The Series returns to action at Pocono Raceway — where the FedEx team has won four times — on Sunday, June 9.